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Parker Selfridge
Parker Selfridge was the passive-aggressive head administrator of the RDA on Pandora and became, along with Colonel Quaritch, an antagonist during the course of the Avatar film. Selfridge was prepared to condone the killing of the native Na'vi, but unlike Colonel Quaritch hesitated to invoke bad press and trespass his personal morality. Unfortunately, both were unremittingly subservient to RDA's profit margin. Selfridge was unable, or unwilling, to consider the Na'vi in human terms, dismissing the Omaticaya clan as 'flea-bitten savages who live in a tree'. Though he supported the long-planned destruction of the Omaticaya Hometree by Colonel Quaritch, he seemed extremely reluctant to see the SecForces airfleet leave to attack the Tree of Souls. It is speculated that observing the destruction of Hometree and the rebels' support for the aliens causes him to rethink his own attitude towards them. In the deleted scene Selfridge argued against further offensive action after the destruction of hometree, but was forced to back down by Colonel Quaritch. Even this scene is not in the original final version of the film, Max Patel tell to Jake Sully: "Quaritch has taken over. He's rolling, and there's no stopping him." (2:07:07). So the logic and information is here (even a little bit hidden) and the rumor about that Quaritch had his tacit approval, recognising the threat Jake and his ever-growing Na'vi army posed seems to be false over-predicted with no supporting fact. Parker Selfridge was evicted from Pandora with his employees after Quaritch's disastrous attempt to destroy the Tree of Souls, but is slated to return for a sequel. Personality and traits Parker Selfridge appeared to be a greedy and selfish man who would do anything to get his hands on the very valuable unobtanium, including destroying the homes of the Na'vi. He had very little respect for the Na'vi, referring to them as 'blue monkeys' and 'savages'. However, he did agree to give Jake Sully one hour to get the Omaticaya clan to leave their Hometree, showing that, despite his limited respect for the Na'vi, he was willing to use diplomacy if he could. Selfridge wasn't as ruthless as Colonel Quaritch, but wouldn't hesitate to use force if negotiations failed. Relationships Grace Augustine Grace appeared to dislike Parker. When Jake Sully first arrived on Pandora, Grace took the replacement of Tom Sully by an ex-marine as an insult from Parker. Parker ignored Grace several times throughout the film. After she tried to explain the biology of the forest, Parker laughed at her thinking that she was not in her right mind. Despite Grace's attempts to get along with Parker, he is unpleaseable and has a very spiteful relationship with Grace. He rarely has good relationships with people, one of the few being Colonel Quaritch, who also murdered Grace, leading Selfridge to like him even more. Throughout the entire movie, nearly every word Parker and Grace say to each other is an argument. Jake Sully Parker and Jake initially got along quite well. Originally, Jake thought of Parker as a boss he could trust and Parker saw Jake as a source for intelligence concerning the Na'vi. However, after Jake defected to the Na'vi, Parker grew to despise him. Jake, however, continued to look at Parker as a business man who could be negotiated out of situations. Jake convinced Parker to let him return to his Avatar body to make the Omaticaya leave Hometree diplomatically. After the final battle, Jake and the Na'vi exiled Parker from Pandora together with the other RDA personnel. Miles Quaritch Miles Quaritch was Parker's right hand man. They seemed to have a mutual liking for one another. Though Parker was not as ruthless as Quaritch, he ordered him to destroy Hometree with all the money in mind that lay beneath it in the form of Unobtanium. Parker started to like Quaritch more and more each day until Quaritch murdered Grace, causing Parker to appreciate having him as a right hand man even more than he ever dreamed of. Trivia * Parker's surname may be a reference to Harry Selfridge, founder of the British department store of the same name and author of the phrase "the customer is always right". The phrase is particularly appropriate to Ribisi's character, a slave to his shareholders. * In Project 880, Parker was known as Carter Selfridge. * Parker kept several Na'vi trophies in a display case behind his desk. You can see a Na'vi hunter's bow and set of arrows, and a Na'vi necklace. No Na'vi would willingly give up their bow, so it must have been retreived from a "casualty of doing business" *In the original script, Parker didn't agree with Quaritch's pre-emptive strike on the Na'vi whereupon Quaritch usurped his authority. Memorable Quotes "Those savages are threatening our whole operation, we're on the brink of war and you're supposed to be finding a diplomatic solution." :- Angry with Dr. Augustine. "Find me a carrot that'll get them to move, otherwise it's gonna have to be all stick." :- Briefing Jake on his mission. "What the hell have you people been smoking out there? They're just god-damn trees!" :- To Dr. Augustine after she finishes explaining at length the former importance of the destroyed tree of voices. "You've got one hour. Unless you want your girlfriend in there when the axe comes down, you get them to evacuate. One hour.'" :- Giving Jake one more chance to get the Na'vi to abandon the Hometree. "Their damn village happens to be resting on the richest Unobtanium deposit within 200 klicks in any direction. I mean, look at all that cheddar!" :- Explaining to Jake why there is conflict with the Na'vi. "Son of a bitch... Unbelievable." :- After Jake damages the bulldozer's cameras and sabotages the operation. "You know what? You throw a stick in the air around here, it's gonna land on some sacred fern, for Christ's sake." :- To Dr. Augustine after she is explaining the biology of the forests, and its importance to the Na'vi. "No! They're a bunch of flea-bitten savages that live in a tree. Look around you. I don't know about you, but I see a lot of trees out there. They could move!" :- Yelling at Dr. Augustine and Jake. Appearances *Avatar (first appearance)- Giovanni Ribisi *Avatar 2 (rumored)- Giovanni Ribisi de:Parker Selfridge nl:Parker Selfridge pl:Parker Selfridge Category:Characters Category:Human Category:RDA Category:Avatar